Jacques Delors, photo Getty Images
Former European Commission President Jacques Delors, described as the architect of the modern EU, has died aged 98, his daughter said.
Source: BBC
Details: He helped create the single market, allowing the free movement of people, goods and services within the EU.
While in office from 1985 to 1995, Delors also laid the foundation for the single European currency, the euro.
Delors' daughter Martine Aubry said he died in his sleep on Wednesday morning at his Paris home.
French President Emmanuel Macron called Delors, who also served as France's finance minister from 1981-84, “a statesman with a French destiny” and “an inexhaustible master of our Europe.”
“His dedication, his ideals and his righteousness will always inspire us,” he said. “I pay tribute to his work and his memory and share the pain of his loved ones.”
Delors served three terms as President of the European Commission, longer than anyone else.
Ursula von der Leyen, who now holds the position, said he was “a visionary who made our Europe stronger.”